Reflections

“Fix your course to a star and you can navigate through any storm” Leonardo da Vinci 1452. Jeanine and I were privileged to attend the LUME in Melbourne where there was an immersive experience featuring the works and inventions of Leonardo Da Vinci. Not only did he paint, he also invented and thought deeply about...Continue reading→

May 5th … You did not  choose me… but… One of the many security tests Jeanine and I encountered on our trip to the States was that we had our fingerprints taken, both going in and leaving the country. We were tired, jet-lagged, bemused and fraught by it all, but we were not going to argue...Continue reading→

What / Who am I doing this for? We gathered at Melville Oval Hamilton. It was a drizzly, chilly morning and there were hundreds with me. There is a single light on the statue and far too many crosses on the lawn. It was cold, bleak and depressing. I had left the comfort of a...Continue reading→

Wicked Little Letters I went to see this film the other day. I should probably start with the health warning that some of the letters were technicolour in their content. That’s the next level above colourful. The film starred some well-known folk like Olivia Colman, Edith Swan, Jessie Buckley and Rose Gooding. The film was...Continue reading→

From Bishop Mark Burton. Of Tupperware and Tin. John Donne wanted to die with his boots on. No quiet exit, slipping away in bed while asleep. Ideally, he wrote, in a letter to a friend, ‘it hath been my desire) that I might die in the pulpit.’ And preferably, mid-sermon, to fall headlong into the congregation. He...Continue reading→

Dear Cleo, This letter comes to you in two parts. There is the grown-up bit at the start for old people and then there is the nice bit which is a story especially for you. Let’s get the old people bit over with first. You came into this world with much anticipation and joy. You...Continue reading→

I’m writing this on Good Friday There is a YouTube series called ‘Letters Live’. In this series, Benedict Cumberbatch reads one of Alexei Navalny’s final letters dated 17th of January 2024. Alexei died in what might be called ‘puzzling circumstances’ and that is me pouring a fair amount of chocolate sauce on it. His opposition...Continue reading→

Thankyou to all who helped

3 cheers for our Doctors. Each year I go and see a gentleman who I refer to as my ‘Big Doctor’. We have known each other for decades and we do the whole shooting match. Blood, diet, state of mind, anything and everything. All the numbers and counts are ticked off. He has seen me...Continue reading→

Easter 3 14/4/24 ‘How do you like your fish?’ On our menu today you can have battered and deep-fried; roast or baked; pan-fried; poached.  Or, how about broiled? In the Gospel the disciples gave Jesus a piece of ‘broiled’ fish to eat so that Jesus could prove to them that he was ‘real’ and not a ghost;...Continue reading→

To paths not taken… It was a quick line on TV. The high-level police having solved a particularly heinous case are reflecting over some tumblers of beverage, One of them turns wistfully to his colleague and asks. ‘So George… if you hadn’t been a detective what would you have been?’ George replies “I come from...Continue reading→

Easter 2. John 20.19-31 Conquering with brokenness. What is it about hands? They crop up quite a bit in the good book. Pilate washes his hands before sending Jesus on his way to death. Jesus places his hands on little children and the sick. The laying on of hands confers the Holy Spirit and authority...Continue reading→

Dancing in the Shadows Whilst leading the parish worship is a rich and delicious joy, when I’m on holiday I relish the chance just to slip quietly into the back pew and let the liturgy wash over me. I adopt a number of postures depending on how I am feeling. There have been times when...Continue reading→

Easter Easter Decisions The first known meeting of the Risen Lord is in very understated circumstances. It’s a gloomy, early morning, still dark and there is one person (only one) that the Risen Lord wants to be with. The risen Lord makes a conscious, maybe even premeditated choice to be with the weeping Mary Magdalene....Continue reading→

Today's wise words come from the wise woman Julia Baird. Julia is an Australian journalist, broadcaster and author. In her book ‘Bright Shining’ she writes these words about the concept of Grace. “Grace is both mysterious and hard to define. It can be found when we create ways to find meaning and dignity in connection...Continue reading→

Palm Sunday 24/3/24 He washed their feet. Part 1 Thursday evening was Passover day, the Jewish festival where they remembered their liberation from slavery. Jesus had planned it carefully. An upper room in a discreet part of the city was booked and a Passover meal prepared. Threads were being gathered together. The tapestry would soon...Continue reading→

Savour the Memory In her book Phosphorescence, Julia Baird describes some of her memories of Central Park. Watch closely as she skilfully takes us by the hand and leads us into this majestic almost magical still place of green in one of the busiest and noisiest cities in the world. ‘Other times, I walked marathons...Continue reading→

Lent 5 March 17th Bishop Stephen Cottrell He ate with tax collectors and sinners part 2 Another shadow crosses the day. They stare at him, dumbfounded. He is very irritating. Not only does he accept this woman’s offering. Not only does he shame them in front of her, reminding them that there will always be...Continue reading→

Holy Week and Easter in Our Parish. Christchurch Hamilton Palm Sunday.  Saturday 23rd of March Vigil 6:00pm Sunday 24th of March 10:30am Mass begins in the hall. Wednesday of Holy Week 27th of March 9:15am Stations of the cross 10:00am Mass Holy (Maundy) Thursday 28th of March 7:30pm Washing of Feet and Vigil until 10:00pm...Continue reading→

Lent 4 March 10th Bishop Stephen Cotterell He ate with tax collectors and sinners. Part 1 In the end, this was his undoing. He just wasn’t respectable enough. He mixed with the wrong sort of people. He wasn’t one of us. There was too much God in him, and not the ‘God-fearing sort of God’...Continue reading→